Ever since silica-based optical fibers have been used for high-power lasers and amplifiers, there have been ongoing efforts to increase the power of the signal that is transmitted through the fibers. When transmitting signals through optical fibers, low signal power in a large mode area results in poor energy extraction. Conversely, detrimental effects manifest themselves at extremely high power. Given these and other problems, there exists a need in the industry for a different approach to amplifying signals in optical fibers.